Epicurean Adventures from Eugene, Oregon

I’m pretty excited to see the daffodils, in full bloom on their spindly stalks when snow hit, springing back after being blanketed for days. Cheery little faces! I need to learn something from their attitude. Even dirt-flecked and ragged, they hold their heads up high.

The flowering quince, probably my favorite plant on the property and also in full bloom, survived without a single broken branch.

I was most worried about the haskap berry bushes, since they’re my earliest crop and were already starting to form berries on several of the plants. But they seem fine. I guess when you grow in Siberia, you can handle a little wet snow.

And here we have Oregon’s finest rhubarb, miracle tarragon and horseradish. Got snow? No problem! I’m also amazed to see cilantro (two varieties) and all my other herbs flourishing. Strawberries, asparagus, peas, flowering broccoli (two varieties) and arugula are doing just fine, thanks. The single asparagus stalk nub bit it, though, and I’m cautiously optimistic about all my raspberries.

I’m always happy to see my old friend lovage return in the early spring. I made some potstickers with it the other day that I will post soon. And my wispy frisée with seeds from Switzerland is doing great. The trouble with tribbles.

And of course, best of all, is the eerily deathless kale. I particularly like this picture, as it looks as if it’s as large as one of the piles of brush from downed branches and limbs in my yard. It’s the ‘Red Russian’ cultivar discussed in a recent Washington Postarticle on kale, where they argued that the flat-leaved B. napus varieties were hardier than the fall B. oleracea kales like lacinato. I guess I tested that hypothesis! Not a single scratch.

Food Preservation News

Get 'em while you can: Interested in free publications on preserving just about anything that grows in Oregon? Extension offices in the PNW have worked together to create a research-based library of resources, now available in .pdf form.